The Ministry
by blacklaserbeams
Summary: A conspiracy in the city of Teirm, a couple of ordinary traders and their families get drawn into it. People start disappearing, Arden's sister is one of those people. He and his colleges band together. A rescue mission across the plains... Did I hear Ra'zac? I'd me glad to hear any suggestions to improve the story. It is a work in progress.
1. Chapter 1

Arden ducked as the long curved blade failed to pass over his surprised figure. His boots slipped on the muddy ground taking precious seconds away form his escape. Balder had managed to pry his sword from the ill fated sign announcing that the building behind it had been voted to Teirm's best inn for the month of March and Arden had only made it a dozen feet. Balder's wicked smile retained it's shape but lost it's life as his gaze moved inexorably up from Arden's feet, revealing three men and two women now standing behind him. He grunted ."Don't get involved in this, for your own good. If you or any of your friends are caught prying where you shouldn't be for a second time I will, against my will, be forced to execute you, boss's orders."

The trader Arden, his friends and co workers watched as the burly man walked away through the rain, back towards the ministry. "Arden, what were you thinking!" Asked Iona, she had clearly been running and so had the others. "I will tell you, but first, lets not stand around in this weather, come to my house. There is plenty of space, now." He gave them a half joking smile and led the way as the evening closed in on Teirm. Iona nudged her husband "What in the name of Eragon our savior? Why did Arden..." Steiner cleared his throat. "Well let's get one thing straight, Arden's sister disappeared. How would you react? He probably just wanted to check the shipping records for himself, to see if there was any mention of her."

Iona looked skeptical "Why the shipping records at the ministry?" Steiner shrugged "Arden must believe the ministry had something to do with his sister's disappearance. That place has always given me the, well, you know." Iona lowered her voice "I thought it would sound silly so that's why I didn't tell you before. You remember how I like to sleep with the window shut during the night? It's that place across the street is what. I would be afraid to walk past it at night, because if I heard something in there when all the officials had already packed their things and headed home..." Steiner put his arm around Iona and they walked through the darkening city towards Arden's home while the others talked among themselves.


	2. Chapter 2

They sat around the low living room table, steaming mugs in their hands. Coats also steamed around the neat brick fireplace. By the wall beside the fireplace lay a stack of coarse chopped wood, beside it was a stack of kindling beside the kindling lay a wooden tinderbox with a good attempt at a dragon carved into it. A low murmur of voices and the occasional chuckle spread out from the table. Then the voices died down and one person began to speak, slowly and haltingly at first, but picking up in momentum. Arden told the rest of them what led up to Balder the guard chasing him out of the ministry.

"As you all know my sister who lived in this very home went missing a week ago. She walked out with a shopping bag in her hand and she never came home. The next day I alerted the city watch and even asked the men at the gate to keep an eye out. I nailed sheets of parchment throughout the entire city I must have made hundreds. On the third day after Marcies's disappearance still nothing!" Arden placed his mug on the table a little forcefully and everyone jumped. "Sorry. Anyway, this morning this girl came to my door with her cat, I think her name was Angie or something like that. She told me that there is trouble brewing at the ministry and that odd things have been happening in correlation with that place. Well not correlation exactly, but you know, something to that end, I'm paraphrasing. I had doubts about the truth of her statements at first but she convinced me to have a look at the shipping records stored on the top floor of the ministry.

When I told her that I, a mere trader, would never be allowed to enter the document room she mentioned that there was a hatch on the roof which would allow you access to the entire top floor of the building." "How is that helpful? Why would a hatch on the roof help you get up to the third floor of the ministry?" Asked Trand, a fellow trader who worked aboard the Nasuada, a fine ship named in memory of the queen who had died just a few years previously. "You're quite right Trand, unless I built a really big ladder that hatch would not seem to be of much use." The others chuckled and Trand took a sip of his tea. "Luckily" Arden continued "The three story building next to the ministry, you know, the one with Teirm's best inn taking up the first two floors, luckily that building has a hatch on it's roof as well.

"Everyone but Trand looked around and grinned at each other in disbelief of what Arden was implying. Trand just looked confused. "I carried up a wooden plank and walked across. I got down to the third floor without a problem, and had a couple hours to sift through the documents. I didn't find any shipping records mentioning Marcie but I found this." He pulled a piece of folded parchment from his pocket and tossed it on the table. "Then I was discovered and you know the rest."

Rain was drumming on the dark glass of the living room window as Iona unfolded the parchment. At the top of the crinkled page was a drawing of a three peaked mountain, below it was a list of names. "That's Hellgrind." Said Berta, Trand's wife. "What's Hellgrind?" Asked Trand. "Trand!"Exclaimed everyone at the table except Steiner who looked a little concerned."If you don't mind my asking, where exactly did you find that?" "On a desk." Said Arden "Well unless you are planning on sneaking back into the ministry to return it and risking execution if you are caught, I suggest you leave the city, because If they discover it's missing, you are probably the first person they will look for. What's worse the whole city has your address because of your lost sister notes. Arden conceded the point. "Yes I know but that's not why I am planning to leave Teirm. Read the names on the list. I am going to Hellgrind.


	3. Chapter 3

Arden opened his eyes to find the living room ceiling staring down at him oppressively, he slid off his blanket and it fell in a heap on the floor. He got up from the worn leather couch that he had crashed on yesterday. Making his way to the front door in a daze, Arden rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his bare feet gave reassuring squeaks on the lacquered wood floor. When Arden wrestled back a stubborn latch, turned the handle and pulled; the fresh smell of Teirm in the morning and blue skies greeted his senses. Across the road, white-washed homes shone brightly with reflected sunlight, that was probably what had awakened him so early, he thought. Arden stood in the doorway for a moment before remembering the that it would be foolish to be seen like this after the events of yesterday, perhaps they were watching him. There was a chance, after all, that someone or something from the ministry was watching him, hiding behind one of the sunlit windows across the road. Arden hurriedly shut the door again and pushed back the latch. He turned to face the mahogany staircase which led up to the second floor hallway, there were eight bedrooms up there, four on each side of the hall.

Arden guessed that those of his friends who had agreed to help him were still fast asleep the ones who had backed out would have gone to work by now. He concluded that he should wake them and make a quick breakfast for everyone while explaining what needed to be done before they could leave for Hellgrind. Then he would assign tasks and give out money so that they could leave Teirm as quickly as possible. Arden sprang up the stairs, suddenly full of panic about what he and his friends were about to attempt, but the excitement which is another side effect of exercising freedom was there too. When Arden reached the top he knocked on the closest door and, when no one answered, he tried the handle. "Sorry..." He furtively closed the door again. Well, from mistakes you learn, he thought to himself. Seeing a better way, Arden called down the hall "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, I need to talk to you and sort out some things before we leave!"

Arden paused, his eye caught the door that used to lead to his sister's room, he turned and headed back down the stairs, a little more slowly than he had come up. His mind was hastily putting together a plan for the day, at times thoughts like "are the eggs still fresh?" and "where did I leave the tinderbox this time?" would momentarily distract him from his main concerns. Turning left at the bottom of the stairs Arden headed towards the kitchen. He started a fire below the stove, took three pans out of a cupboard and began to slice some bacon. All the while plotting against the bad guys.

Everyone was finally all sitting round the main table. Arden cleared his throat. "First of all we need provisions, enough to last us three weeks, Trand, this is your job." Arden slid over a leather pouch clinking with coins to the burly man who was wolfing down his bacon, eggs and tea. "Next we need transport, finding transport will be Steiner's job." He slid the second pouch across the table. "Thirdly we will need bows and arrows for self defense as-well as hunting, that will be my responsibility." "Out there, hunting and protecting yourself are probably one and the same." Commented someone."Iona and the rest of you." Arden continued. "You are on packing duty. We will meet back at the main gate no later than noon. Any questions?" Trand raised a hand. "Yes?" "Well... just a small question about my job. Umm... food of the aaa... alcoholic persuasion too? "Food?" Inquired Arden" "Yes well, well, no.. Umm, rum for example?" "No, Trand, we need to stick with the essentials on this one. Anymore questions? Alright, lets get started then." "Rum can be very usefull..." Murmured Trant, but everyone was already scurrying around.


	4. Chapter 4

Iona walked through the long antiqued wooden hallway that led to the living room. Although she was carrying a heavy suitcase she walked straight and did not lean to one side as you might expect. As she passed a mirror hanging on the wall she glanced briefly at herself. The front door came into view in front of her as she stepped around the end of the hall, it was slightly ajar and moving gently in the breeze coming in from the sea. Through the crack between the frame and the shifting door Iona could see the other women who had volunteered to help Trand loading suitcases of clothes, spices and the like onto a hand drawn cart. Soon they were away to the main gate and Iona was alone. She was about to put the suitcase down and load it with more provisions which had been left on the steps when a particularly strong gust of wind pried the door open a little further. Iona caught a glimpse of something in one of the windows on the row of houses across the street. Without breaking stride Iona continued walking passed the steps and pushed the heavy door open with the toe of a leather boot, left hand looking for something in her vest pocket. She pulled out a slip of paper and, eyeing the window sat down on the doorstep placing the suitcase in front of her. The brick landing before the steps that led down to the street was large enough for her to lay down the suitcase flat so all her clothes wouldn't spill out when she opened it. Keeping her head down but still looking at the window Iona undid the latch on the suitcase. She flipped the lid all the way back and, making sure whoever it was saw it, she unfolded the document with the picture of Hellgrind on it and placed it on top of the other things in the suitcase. She paused for a second, then closed the lid before the piece of parchment could blow away in the breeze. Iona got up, and from the corner of her eye she saw the figure disappear from the window. She stepped down the stairs and, walking briskly though evidently burdened by the heavy suitcase, Iona followed the others toward the gate.


	5. Chapter 5

Trand trudged along the crowded streets, lanes, avenues and alleys of Teirm in a semi aimless fashion. He had a big bag of oats under one arm, with his free hand he drew a wood cart containing several water barrels and one smaller, unmarked barrel. God knows why he didn't simply place the oats in the cart as well. His shoes were slightly too big, which was amusing considering the size of his feet. On his head he wore a straw hat, with what he considered to be fashionably frayed edges. One could tell that his shirt had once featured sleeves and had, at another time, been white, just as one could tell that his pants had, in the distant past, been black; probably.

Although he had bought, or, more accurately, acquired, all the provisions they would need, and although he was already heading towards the main gate to meet the others, when noticed a small shop selling a rare herb, "_Helfenhag", _it made him pause. Trand's burly hand let go of the cart handle for a second and made as if to reach for his pocket, at the last moment he simply wiped it on his pant leg, as if it was sweaty, which it wasn't, and as he did so coins jingled in his pocket.

A couple minutes later, only a few dozen houses before the giant gate, something made a burly man pulling a cart through the busy street, and carrying a huge bag of oats look somewhat worriedly off to his left. A figure vanished from behind a window overlooking the street.


	6. Chapter 6

All members of the party met at the gate and after loading all supplies onto a hoarse drawn cart they departed for Hellgrind. It was about two in the afternoon and everyone had gotten settled into their roles. Steiner sat at the reigns, he was leaning forwards, arms resting on the newly bought hand and a half sward which lay across his knees. He was observing the horses and the ever shifting countryside with a steady gaze. Trand sat on the rough wooden planking which constituted the floor of the carriage, he was using one of the barrels as a back rest to keep the remainder from shifting. He was looking through the open side door, apparently hypnotized by the retreating fields. Although he didn't appear to be listening, whenever something amusing came up in the conversation between Iona and Arden he chuckled to himself.

At nightfall the party halted near a lone tree that, with the addition of some rope, would serve as a means to prevent the horses from running off. A campfire was being made as the sun sank behind a rocky outcrop. A pot was fetched from the wagon in addition to a measure of oats and a barrel off water. When the stars came twinkling into sight in the darkening skies the whole group was sitting comfortably around a good sized fire. Radiant heat warmed their faces and arms. When they finished eating Trand blatantly refused to do the washing up so everyone voted for Arden to do it. As he got up to get some loose dirt in order to clean the pot both horses gave wined almost simultaneously.

Suddenly the air was filled with the swish of arrows and the flashes of firelight reflected from swords. They seemed to have come out of nowhere. Surprisingly the group also seemed to have been ready. They were fighting off the raz'ac attackers with just as much skill as the raz'ac themselves. In this fight, concentration, action and reaction took precedence over thought. Iona ducked a thrust at her left shoulder, bringing her own sword down at the extended arm as she did so. Iona kicked the stunned raz'ac in the chest and Trand decapitated the fallen figure seemingly be accident while engaged with his own opponent. Steiner cut and thrust with glee, expertly foiling all of the raz'ac's attempts before dealing his own, carefully planned, fatal blow. Arden hadn't reached for his sword yet as he was doing just fine, taking out enemy archers with his bow.

At the end of the fight something so surprising happened that raz'ac which had been kept for questioning stopped struggling. The four had nodded at each-other and the air around them shimmered for a moment. Then Trand morphed into Angela, Steiner morphed into Murtag, Iona morphed into Arya and Arden morphed into Eragon.

"Well, at least now we know. Something really is going on" Said Murtag "The bastards killed the horses" he added with a hint of grim humor. "I can't believe all that disguising actually worked." said Eragon. "Well" said Angela "Our employer did warn us that this was bigger than we suspected. So disguising ourselves, and not our motives was probably a wise idea. Just think, if a dozen raz'ac attacked us thinking we were ordinary citizens, then how many, or what else would have been sent if they knew who we were. Plus, we're getting payed for this." "Yes that is definitely a benefit as well, I find it odd and somewhat worrying just how quickly people forget about you once you are no longer needed." Stated Arya "I agree with that" said Murtag. "I nearly had to resort to farming after the war." He added, looking pointedly at Eragon. Eragon tactfully ignored this. Well at least we're all together again said Eragon. "What can go wrong?" Agreed Murtag.


End file.
